


Grounded

by _jamjar (phizzle)



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-28
Updated: 2004-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-07 20:38:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phizzle/pseuds/_jamjar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For ali_jayne.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Grounded

**Author's Note:**

> For ali_jayne.

Soft. Warm, over his goosebump skin. Dom tried to open his eyes, but they seemed welded shut. "Mtmst?" His mouth seemed stuck, too.

"Ssshh." Billy knelt beside him, adjusting the fleece blanket over him. "Go back to sleep, Dom." He stroked a bit of Dom's hair falling over his forehead, a slow steady rhythm, as Dom's tongue made it out to lick his dry lips.

"What time is it?" he muttered, still trying to open his eyes properly. All he could see was a blurry shape.

"It's after nine," Billy murmured, lips to Dom's forehead. "Hush now. Sleep, love."

Dom made to say something else, but Billy stopped him, mouth softly on mouth. Surprised for a moment, Dom relaxed into the kiss, hands fighting their way out of the blanket, shivering cold until they tangled in Billy's hair, found their place on his warm neck.

"I love you," Dom mumbled as he settled back, letting sleep in again. Billy stroked his hair until he heard the tiniest hint of snoring. He smiled, leaning back on his legs, and stood, shaking feeling back into his knees.

Two hours later, Dom woke groggily, the smell of cocoa under his nose. Billy was sitting in the armchair, sipping a mug of it, and smiled over at him. "Hi, Sleeping Beauty," he said, soft.

Dom smiled. "What time is it now?"

"Bed time. I wasn't sure whether to wake you." Billy put his mug down, coming to crouch by Dom's head again. "You look so beautiful when you sleep," he murmured, running one finger down Dom's cheek.

Dom caught the fingertip in his mouth and kissed it. "Always wake me," he said. "I don't want to sleep alone, on the sofa, I want to be in our bed. With you."

Billy helped him up, held him as he stumbled. Dom managed to wake enough to get ready for bed, and slipped in next to Billy.

They settled in their places, arms around each other, sides pressed together. Dom rubbed his eyes.

"Wish I was a bit more awake..." He gestured down their bodies. Billy laughed.

"One night without won't kill us, Dommie," he chuckled, though when Dom's thigh connected with his hips, he gasped and angled them into it.

The kiss that came was hard, and surprisingly needing. "You know what?" Dom muttered, hands in Billy's hair, rolling on top of him. "Think I'm awake now."

Billy hooked one leg over Dom's waist. "If you fall asleep in the middle, I'll bloody kill you," was all he said, bucking a little.

~

Billy shivered violently, huddling down inside his coats. Dom noticed, of course, coming round from where he'd been talking to Elijah, and wrapped both arms and a good portion of his torso around all of Billy he could reach. "Hey, you."

Billy kissed his nose. "Hey, you. Come to warm me?"

"That's what boyfriends are for," Dom nodded. "That and filling in your tax returns."

"You'd fill in my tax returns?" Billy gazed at him for a moment. Dom contemplated wrinkling his nose and saying _Nahhh_, but the look on Billy's face softened him. He went for the truth instead.

"Billy, I'd do anything for you. Even taxes."

"Wow, you really _are_ in love with me."

"And don't you forget it." Dom kissed him, smiling, and heard a tiny "aww", quickly stifled, from Elijah and Fran, who were going over the next scene together.

Billy rested his forehead against Dom's, his Pippin wig brushing against Merry's curls. "And I with you," he whispered. "My Brandybuck."

"Mmm, my Took." Dom breathed in, nose a little scrunched in a way Billy honestly thought was the cutest thing he had ever seen. And that included those puppies Margaret's dog had had. Now, _they_ were industrial strength cute.

"Alright, if the love birds can give the rest of the world their attention, let's move on," came Pete's voice from the clearing. Dom and Billy looked up, grinning, and pulled on Merry and Pippin. They were ready.

~

"I can't believe this. I can't believe this. How could he ... I can't believe this."

"Sean?" Dom blinked, holding the front door open. "Are you ... what are you doing here? It's late, we have early call tomorrow." He stood aside all the same, and Sean stepped in.

"_Nothing_," he burst out when he got to the living room. Billy looked up from the book he'd been reading. The sound on the telly was turned down, and Dom quickly switched it off.

"Sean? Are you okay?" Billy asked, as Dom rushed to shift the papers he'd been perusing off the sofa. Sean sank into the cushions, and Dom glanced at Billy, nodding their silent agreement, and went to the kitchen to make tea.

"He didn't take any of my suggestions," Sean muttered, surprised to find Dom handing him a mug of steaming hot Yorkshire Gold. He looked at it, then at them, as if for the first time.

Dom sat next to him, one arm around his shoulders, Billy coming to settle on Sean's other side. "Sean, mate, tell us what's wrong, eh? You're not, exactly, making much sense."

"Sam!" Sean burst out. Billy and Dom shared a slightly panicked glance over his head. "It's Pete. He won't _listen_. Or, well, he'll listen, but then he'll just rip up all my ideas and go with his."

Something clicked in Billy's brain, and he whispered, "Oooohhhh." He nodded at Dom, who twigged a moment later, and they both hugged Sean wordlessly.

"I mean, I try," Sean continued. "I try my damned hardest to bring Samwise Gamgee to life, y'know? But every time I suggest something, Pete just throws it back in my face."

"Sean, love, you've got to stop getting so wound up about this," Dom said, softly. "What does Christine say, every time you talk about it?"

Sean sighed. "She says to stop worrying so much, and if I have to, just keep trying. That it's Pete's movie and he's not –" He paused. "He's not Hollywood, he doesn't work like that. But I should try, if it's what I want."

"She's a very wise woman, is your wife," Billy told him. Sean nodded almost miserably.

Billy smoothed his hair where Sean had ruffled it, making it stand in peaks. "Poor Seanie. Always so wound up about things. Have you been sleeping?"

Sean made a face. "Kinda. I'm alright, I'm okay, I just need to drink more coffee. Or maybe less coffee." He considered for a moment. "No, more coffee is more like it."

"Sounds like _less_ would be a good idea," Dom gently said, nuzzling him a little. "Why don't you stay here tonight? We'll call Christine, let her know where you are and that you're okay. Let Dommie and Billy take care of you for a while."

Sean shook his head at first, but Billy began massaging his shoulders a little, and he sighed, dropping his head forwards. His voice, when he spoke, was tiny, worn through, and as filled with tears as his eyes were now. "Thank you."

Dom made the call, while Billy worked on Sean's shoulders and neck. "So tense," Billy muttered, kneading the muscles under his hands. Sean just sighed deeper and wiped a few tears away.

"Thank you," he whispered, again, as Dom handed him a mug of hot chocolate. "You guys are so good to me." He held up the mug. "Hot drinks and everything."

"Well, you're a friend," Dom smiled at him, ruffling his hair where Billy had smoothed it, pausing to re-flatten it. "You're our Sam. You deserve the full hospitality of Brandybuck Hall."

"Who's to say this isn't Great Smials?" Billy teased him. Dom closed one eye in thought.

"How about the Great Hall, then?"

Billy nodded. "Aye. Great Hall it is."

~

Sean hesitated when they led him towards the bed. "Come on, you need to sleep."

"But ... I only sleep with _Christine_," he said, looking as if he wanted to bolt out of the door.

"Now, you're going to sleep with us." Dom steered him firmly, but gently, to the bed. "You need warmth, Sean, you need _sleep_. If you go home, you'll want to talk, and if you talk, you'll get worked up again. I'm not saying Christine can't take very fine care of you herself," he added as Sean opened his mouth to protest, "don't get me wrong. But you need _us_, tonight."

Dom was right, and Sean grudgingly admitted that. After all, there was a reason he'd gone to these two and not Elijah or home or anywhere else.

Billy was warm, radiating heat on his left. Dom cradled his right, soft in a way he just didn't _appear_ to be. By day, Dom was, Sean thought, hard as flint at times, and blunt as stone. But at night, he found, Dom was boneless, a soft sleeping glow beside him. You could feel the warmth of his heart more than anything, and between Dom's heart-warmth, and Billy's body-warmth, Sean felt almost drugged with peace and sleepiness.

Dom curled one arm over Sean, reaching out to Billy. They linked hands, fingers together and stroking a little, palms meeting, and beamed over Sean's head at each other.

That night, Sean slept warm and deeply. He woke, Billy's arms still around him, Dom's cheek resting against his shoulder. Smiles were on their faces, and Sean had never felt more comforted. And when he went home after work that evening, and Christine asked how the day had been, he just smiled and put his arms around her.

"It was great," he said, and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, a little taken aback. "I don't know what Dom and Billy did to you, but I like the change," she added.

Sean beamed at her. "Sometimes, you just need your brothers to ground you," he said.


End file.
